City Views – The Final Rant
Where did it all go wrong? Yes, we are only eight rounds in but for me the Melbourne City season is over. Poor recruiting, multiple deficiencies, and the inability to perform at the required level on a weekly basis have seen me write off the season, even before the Christmas derby arrives.
With the ‘City’ name change there seems to be a waft of arrogance surrounding the club, too much time was invested on the Mickey Mouse recruiting of David Villa and Frank Lampard and not enough time was spent on recruiting players who would actually bolster the squad long term. Yesterday’s 5-1 embarrassment in Wellington was a truer reflection of where the club currently stands and like many fans I’ve had enough of the misleading statements from the club, false claims about how a win is just around the corner and the continual absence of key players thru injury.
At the start of the season expectations were high, but not too high on my part. I wanted no part of the multiple betting agencies listing the club as favourites to take out the title. A more conservative 4th– 6th was what I was hoping for, but more importantly I wanted to see the club progress towards building a squad capable of winning (or at least competing) of winning the A-League title. I understood there was far too much dead wood in the squad and to reshape this squad is going to take time, but the continual recruitment of midfielders (and nothing else) has hurt the club.
The continual absence of Robert Koren is a major concern, how long can a calf injury take to heal? We have almost completed one third of the season and our key players still hasn’t taken to the pitch. This is the Orlando Engelaar situation all over again, something you get for recruiting players in the twilight of their careers. Calculated risks have to be taken given the geographic location of Australia, but continually recruiting players past their best and on the downward slope fitness wise keeps coming back to haunt the club. Fans are quick to remember the Vince Grella experiment and the dismal failure it became.
Let’s move onto our Australian marquee, Josh Kennedy. His January arrival is only a month away, but there is a little football tournament called the Asia Cup (It might only be a rumour, I haven’t received my tickets yet) where the A-League experience a significant break in January. This pushes any potential Josh Kennedy debut for the club back to Round 15 where we take on Western Sydney on the 1st of February. Talk about amateur hour at the recruiting table, I wonder how Sydney fans would take the news Alex Brosque wouldn’t play in the first half of the season through sheer incompetence at club level.
There is also a rumour circulating that Robert Koren won’t play until this date, I wonder how Melbourne Victory would fare without Berisha and Milligan for a significant part of the season. Because of the salary cap the league will always be heavily reliant on having quality individuals as your club marquees; most clubs seemed to have worked out the importance of this. Financially we should be one of the front runners in this department, but once again the club has let the fans down. It’s like watching the other kids in the playground playing with lego, whilst we are there sitting there with duplo blocks with no urgency to make any changes or advancements.
The following is the K-Mart refund policy
Kmart will accept product returns and provide you with an exchange voucher, refund or repair where:
- The product is faulty or is not of acceptable quality, or
- The product is not fit for its intended purpose, or
- The product does not match the sample or our description; and
- You can present your Kmart register receipt or other adequate proof of purchase.
Melbourne City, I am writing to request a refund on my 2014/15 membership. I am certain I can prove all four of the above points to assure my refund request is met.
I have always supported the club but your sheer lack of wanting to improve, abysmal recruiting in the off season and refusal to move forward with the other A-League clubs is beginning to be too much for this fan. Whilst we are only out of the top six on goal difference this squad won’t win anything and isn’t headed in the right direction. You promised so much (once again) in the off season, but as Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding stated in Shawshank Redemption “Hope is a dangerous thing, Hope can drive a man insane”.
As tough as it is, I think it would be far easier for all parties involved to cut out losses this season and look towards Season 2015/16. I have never been more disappointed than I am at this moment in time with a football club, and frankly have lost interest in following Melbourne City. I know I will be back, but at this stage I cannot say when. Get your house in order Scott Munn and John Van’t Schip, genuine football fans can only take so much misguided spin before we walk away and crowds return to the dismal numbers this club currently deserve.
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